How's Your Credit Union Doing?

Click here for a letter to our members. And contact us if you have any questions.

Social communities

Here are some interesting facts on Facebook:

• There are 100 million active Facebook users. Facebook anticipates that number will grow to 200 million by the end of 2008.
• There are 250,000 new users daily.
• The average Facebook users in on his/her page 25 minutes a day.

Check us first for car rates!

Buying a new or used car? Check with LifeWay Credit Union first! With rates as low as 3.75%, you'll be glad you did.

Don't Let Fees Take Their Toll

Consumers are willing to pay for convenient financial services, such as automated teller machine use. But how much is too much?

Some fees finance the research and development of future products and services. Still other fees are used to modify negative behaviors, such as routinely writing checks against nonexistent funds.

But when it comes to fees, you can trace the difference between how many and how much to one major philosophical difference in the way credit unions and banks operate.

Banks are for-profit institutions: The profit motive influences the number and size of their fees.

Credit unions are not-for-profit financial cooperatives. Because there's no pressure from profit-minded stockholders, LifeWay Credit Union charges fees to enable us to provide more convenient and useful services for our members.

That explains why credit unions usually charge fewer and lower fees than banks.

How much can members save just by using a credit union share draft or checking account?

Credit union members who open a share draft account usually can do so for free. According to the Credit Union National Association's 2006/2007 Credit Union Fees Survey Report, 75% of credit unions offer free share draft/checking accounts.

Credit unions also make it easy--and cheap--to access your accounts. Nearly three-fourths of credit unions that offer access to ATMS participate in surcharge-free ATM networks, which means you won't be charged for any transactions at those ATMS.

Stop by or call us to make sure you're taking full advantage of the credit union difference--before unnecessary fees take a toll on your hard-earned dollars.

Five Tips for Getting Low-Priced Airfare

Many variables go into the price of an airline ticket. The result is that few passengers on the same plane pay the same price.

1. Timing is everything--Twenty-one day and 14-day advance fares usually are the lowest. Search for fares a few minutes after midnight--when reservations previously put "on hold," but not ticketed, are released. Avoid peak travel times including holidays. Travel before 7 a.m. and after 7 p.m. Fly Tuesday through Thursday; include a Saturday night stay.

2. Search the Web--Lower priced fares often are offered online. In fact, the same ticket may be $25 more if you buy it over the phone.

* http://www.bestfares.com/
* http://www.expedia.com/
* http://www.orbitz.com/
* http://www.smartertravel.com/
* http://www.travelocity.com/
* http://www.travelnow.com/

3. Choose an alternate city--Can't find the airfare you want from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport to La Guardia Airport in New York City? Consider leaving from and arriving in alternate cities.

4. Budget airlines--Smaller airlines are good options if you missed advance purchase deals on major airlines. Budget airlines also offer the best deal if you're flying one-way. Typically major airlines charge hefty prices for one-way fares.

5. Promotions--When an airline begins service to a new city look for introductory discounts good for 30 days or 60 days. Don't book without asking about promotions.

New Savings/Certificate Rates

Looking for a safe place to invest your hard-earned money? LifeWay Credit Union is just the place for you. Click here for the most recent savings and certificate rates.

Surcharge-Free ATMs

Whenever you need to get cash and you're not near the credit union office, remember that we belong to two surcharge-free ATM networks. Click here for MoneyTower locations, and here for Co-Op Network locations. With so many ATMs in these two networks, you're sure to find one near you!

Share Insurance Protects Your Savings

Good old "Plan B." It's nice to have something to fall back on when things don't go the way you plan. But when it comes to building a financial cushion for retirement, or saving for college or a down payment for a new house, setbacks can be costly.

Safeguarding your hard-earned money is critical. That's why LifeWay Credit Union has federal share insurance, administered by an independent government agency, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA). The National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF) protects aggregate savings up to at least $100,000 in savings, certificates, and share draft/checking accounts.

The coverage for individual retirement accounts (IRAs) is $250,000.

Something else about share insurance: It separately insures individual and joint accounts. For example, say you have an individual account containing $100,000, and a joint account with your spouse containing $100,000. Each account is insured separately for a total coverage of $200,000.

So how do you know we're federally insured? All federally insured credit unions--like yours--must post the official NCUA insurance sign in their offices.

As do other NCUSIF-insured credit unions, we abide by high standards of safety and soundness. Because of that, NCUSIF is a strong, well-capitalized fund.

So bring your savings to us. You can count on LifeWay Credit Union to take good care of it.

More Consumers Use Online Bill Pay

About 63.1 million households--75% of all U.S. households--are paying bills online, according to a survey by CheckFree, part of Fiserv, Inc., a provider of information technology services to the financial industry (BusinessWire Aug. 27).
Among survey respondents who use the Internet, check payments dropped to their lowest level in six years--accounting for 31% of the total volume of household bill payments, compared with 34% in 2007.

The survey also indicates that consumers have more confidence in online security because Americans are becoming more experienced in using Internet services, and therefore security concerns are not a much of a barrier to online bill payment adoption as they were in the past, said CheckFree. Other survey findings include:

Households using the Internet pay about 11 bills per month. Consumers use an average of three different ways to pay bills with online, check, automatic debit and in-person at the heading the list of bill-payment methods. Online bill payments at bank and biller websites account for 42% of total monthly payments, compared with 31% of bills paid by check.

The environment was cited by 51% of survey respondents as a reason for choosing to view and pay bills online. Of these, 72% identified the lack of paper and clutter as main benefits, followed by tree conservation (19%) and reduction in gas consumption (16%).

Saving time and obtaining control over finances were major online bill-payment benefits cited by 44% of respondents. Those surveyed also cited other main reasons for paying bills online, including eliminating the hassle of writing checks; enabling them to pay all bills in one step; and saving on the cost of stamps.

If you're not using LifeWay Credit Union's Virtual Branch Bill Pay, click here to apply.